Senate Commerce Committee Approves Bills

SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILLS
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
The Senate Commerce Committee approved seven bills Wednesday, including the Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2007, which sets new standards to protect sensitive, personal information, including allowing credit freezes and limiting the display of social security numbers, and the IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act of 2007, which creates a statutory obligation on IP-enabled voice service providers to provide 911 and E911 service to their subscribers. The Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2007, S. 1178, requires businesses, organizations, and federal agencies to maintain and protect sensitive personal information. The Federal Trade Commission establishes standards for companies safeguarding such information and is responsible for enforcing the Act against businesses and organizations, other than those that are regulated by other federal agencies. Violators may be fined up to $11,000 per violation per day with no cap. The bill also obligates these businesses, organizations, and federal agencies to notify consumers in the event of a security breach that creates a reasonable risk of identity theft. Under the bill, in the event of a breach, a consumer may place a security freeze on his or her consumer credit report, which blocks the release of any information from the consumer’s credit report without the explicit authorization of the consumer. Additionally, the bill would prohibit the display of social security numbers on employer, school or other identification cards, and state driver’s licenses. It also prohibits the sale, purchase, or solicitation of social security numbers, except for limited purposes such as fraud prevention and to pursue criminals. S. 428, the IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act of 2007 would grant IP-enabled voice providers the right of access to essential 911 components comparable to the rights of access granted to commercial mobile service providers. The bill also would clarify the right of states and localities to impose 911 fees on IP-enabled voice services providers to use for expanded 911, E911, or other public safety purpose. S. 428 would also direct the E911 Implementation Coordination Office to develop and report to Congress on a national plan for migrating to an IP-enabled emergency network within 270 days of the bill’s enactment.
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